Frailty
by pseudo-quill
Summary: In a world very much like our own, Fai is diagnosed with cancer. Kurogane doesn't know what to do. And what is Fai hiding this time? Post-series. NOT death-fic.
1. Prologue

**Summary: Kurogane has a foreboding dream.**

**Warnings: Yaoi pairings. KUROFAI! Hospitals, a bit of humor and a bit of angst. Fai being Fai (and hiding things from everyone else). Kurogane being Kurogane (meaning that there will be swearing. Like duh.) Fluff interspersed. THIS IS NOT DEATH-FIC. FAI GETS BETTER. Erm. A bit of blood in this chapter?**

**A/N: This was in response to a prompt given to me by a friend, which is "Fai gets cancer. BUT DOESN'T DIE PLEASE!".**

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><p>It was dark. Loud desperate gasping filled the endless space. He couldn't see the source of the noise, couldn't see <em>anything <em>in the pitch blackness, though he could feel sensation gradually returning to his numbed limbs. His body felt like lead, and as he attempted to roll over and get up, he realized that he couldn't seem to move at all. He wondered briefly what was making the sobbing pants; it sounded like a dying thing.

His memory came back in little trickles of thought: a world of icy mountains and scattered villages in the snow, laughing faces of villagers. _A coal-mining village_, he thought dreamily, remembering the feel of the pick in his hand, Fai lazing behind him on a cart (_Why aren't you doing anything, you lazy mage?_) surrounded by the miners from the village—fathers and sons and brothers and husbands—all laughing and smiling at their banter. Then something had happened. He knew it. But what exactly had happened? He knew it was important, but he just couldn't _remember._

It hit him like a knife to the gut.

There had been a cave-in. A minor earthquake, he remembered, and the entrance to the mine had been no more than ten feet away. Fai had gotten the villagers out with a combination of magic and lightning-quick reflexes, sparks of blue light spiraling from his fingertips and twining around the panicking men, forcefully shoving them out of the collapsing mine. Then in the span of a second—the second in which the mage had successfully evacuated every single villager from the site—the tunnel had collapsed on them. The last thing Kurogane remembered was blasting a hole through the falling rocks with a desperate cry of _Hama-ryou-jin! _and pushing the wizard out into the light, before everything went black. He didn't even know if Fai had gotten out, or if they were both currently crushed under the weight of the entire mountain.

The frantic wheezing registered more forcefully in his head, and Kurogane shot up—lethargy and aching limbs forgotten in his panic—horror curdling in his gut as he found the source of the noise. Fai was lying in a tangled heap in the snow, limbs twisted into obscenely distorted angles, spasming and jerking and twitching and gasping like a dying animal.

"_Fai!"_

He found himself lunging towards the mangled form of the blonde magician, red _(oh god, there was so much) _blooming across white like roses. He fell into the snow as his legs failed to support him, and pulled himself bodily towards the mage. Fai made a terrible gurgling scream as Kurogane lifted his head into his arms, shoulder jerking back into its proper position with a sickening _pop, _his elbow soon following with another pained cry. The gashes torn into his sides closed before the ninja's wide eyes, and he realized that it must have been the vampire blood at work. Red spurted from plump lips, blue eyes wide with an unseeing panic. Kurogane could hear himself shakily muttering prayers as he wiped the blood from Fai's lips with a trembling thumb, revealing the shockingly blue hue of normally pink lips. Against the snow, Fai seemed just as deathly white as the ice he was sprawled upon.

Remembering Tokyo, he grasped at a pale wrist to prevent the vampiric wizard from hurting himself. Eyes widening, he pressed his palm to a blood-soaked chest. Because although Fai was thrashing and wheezing and very much alive in his arms, _he couldn't feel a pulse. _Horrified, Kurogane dropped the smaller man into the snow, pressing his palms over the bloodied breast of the mage's tunic, and shoving. At that, Fai let loose an unearthly shriek, crimson splattering from his lips as he began to push the warrior away. As his hands were knocked away, the tunic slipped right open, seemingly sliced right down the middle. Red eyes widened. Kurogane fell back with a loud cry of horror.

Torn into Fai's torso as if with claws were two bloody chasms, one low on his abdomen, the other right where his heart should have been. There was red erupting from the empty hole, like blood was still pumping into the vacant place where his heart once was. Still stunned, Kurogane could feel hands on his arms, panicked voices surrounding him, and it took him a moment before he began to struggle against the faceless people dragging him away from the blonde.

"What are you doing? What the _fuck _do you think you're doing?"

It took him a moment longer to realize the inhumane snarl had come from him, brain still fuzzy and disoriented from just having come to and seeing the man he lo—_Fai _dying a few feet away from him. The shinobi was slow to recognize the wide-brown eyes and messy brown hair, as well as the high pitched voice and white fur to the side. There were other people around, men and women and children, but he barely registered them as he lashed out like a wild animal.

There was a stunning blow to the back of his head, and he found himself fighting the darkness once again as he collapsed into the snow beside Fai.

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><p>"<em>Fai!"<em>

Kurogane bolted out of bed, promptly falling over as the sheets tangled around his legs. Syaoran leveled a sleepily concerned look at him from the other bed, Mokona in his lap. The sun shone through the window, gilding the loose fibers of the embroidered sheets on the bed between them, conspicuously empty. Ignoring the puzzled looks from the two other occupants in the room, the ninja kicked the blankets away from his legs and dashed for the door, irrational panic clouding his thoughts.

As he burst through the doorway, he was met with the sight of a pale figure standing in front of the stove, wheat hair tousled and a blue apron tied securely about a slim waist, head turning towards him.

"Oya," he says, cocking his head, mischief lending a devilish flint to blue eyes, "Wet dream, Kuro-hentai? How inappropriate of Daddy."

Kurogane spluttered indignantly, red-faced, and Fai laughed as he turned back to the stove. The smell of waffles, coffee, and sizzling eggs wafted atop the sweet morning breeze that blew gently in from the open window over the sink. The muffled sounds of rustling sheets as Syaoran got out of bed issued from the open doorway behind him. Mokona squealed, and Syaoran laughed; Fai smiled at the sound, humming to himself as he flipped the eggs over onto a white plate. Everything was peaceful. Life was perfect.

Kurogane couldn't shake the feeling that a storm was coming.

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><p><strong>AN: Sigh. I haven't added anything in the longest time, because of school and all. To be honest, this was supposed to be a oneshot, but because life is a real bitch sometimes, I decided to cut it up into chapters. I have so many different fics that I'm trying to finish at the same time, and I just keep getting distracted, so that's why I just cannot seem to finish the whole fic and post the whole thing up. I'm not really sure how long this will be, but I sometimes get carried away and my oneshots become like... 10k words. Oh, and I will repeat, this is NOT going to be death-fic people. Not sure when the next chapter will be up, we'll have to see.**

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><p><strong>Updated 2903/2012:**

**IMPORTANT UPDATE!**

**I realized that there probably some discrepancies that I did not properly address. Thank you Honest Alice for bringing that up! As Honest Alice pointed out in a review, cancer should not be an issue in the TRC verse. I completely agree with that. In fact, in my own personal head-canon I would think that a magic-user/ vampire like Fai would probably be completely immune to cancer, both because of some strange magical whatnot that as well as his biological state. Especially since vampires have different structure from humans, as Kamui explained in Acid!Tokyo ("The structure of his body is changing, of course it hurts"). I considered this issue when I took on this story, and I have an explanation for it. I do not wish to spoil the story for you, but the explanation comes to light later as Fai has been keeping it a secret from Kurogane, whose POV this is story is written from. **

**I hadn't considered before that this issue may put off some readers, and discourage others from reading. This disparity is accounted for, so please don't write this story off at a glance. Thank you once again for being honest, Alice (hehe, see what I did there? Honest Alice, and honest, alice? Geddit? _Geddit?_ :DDDD *shot*) and telling me plainly what you thought. If you hadn't told me about this, I suppose there may have been many other readers deterred by this same issue. There is a reason why this is set in canon and not in an AU setting, so don't worry too much about that. Honesty is something I appreciate in reviews, so thank you again!**


	2. Of Hospitals and Biopsies

**Summary: Fai passes out in the subway, is sent to the hospital, and is diagnosed. The doctor wants to run a retest.**

**Warnings:** **Yaoi pairings. KUROFAI! Hospitals, a bit of humor and a bit of angst. Fai being Fai (and hiding things from everyone else). Kurogane being Kurogane (meaning that there will be swearing. Like duh.) Fluff interspersed. THIS IS NOT DEATH-FIC. FAI GETS BETTER. **

**A/N: This was in response to a prompt given to me by a friend, which is "Fai gets cancer. BUT DOESN'T DIE PLEASE!".**

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><p>It was a nice world, albeit an expensive one, that they'd landed in this time. The sea could be easily seen from their hotel room, and the sun seemed to be perpetually shining. When they had dumped a load of some of the money they had collected from previous worlds onto the front desk, the receptionist had taken a step back, eyes widening at all the unfamiliar currency. Coincidentally, (or perhaps it was hitsuzen) the clerk seemed to recognize the leftover bag of notes they'd gotten from Watanuki the last time they landed in his shop, and offered to exchange it into the standard currency of the country they were in. ("See, this is yen. You can't use it here, you can only use it in Japan. This is a whole other country altogether.")<p>

Outside, there was a complex maze of tarred roads, concrete pavements, and flashing traffic lights. The clerk had come out from behind the front desk and stood at the doorways of the automatic sliding glass doors as he gestured down the busy main road, saying something about buses, trains, and public transport. He had thrusted a handful of coins into their hands from his own wallet—together with a stack of bills from the front desk that he had 'converted' from the 'yen' they had given him—noticing that they didn't have any small change to spend.

"Here, I'm sure you can read it," he said, looking nervously over his shoulder as he separated a coin from the others with his forefinger, "See, this is a dollar, you can see the one written on it, can't you? The train fare's two dollars each. So you'll need...one, two, three, four, five, six coins. The station's right down the road, if you get lost you can ask for directions."

And then he was scrambling back behind the front desk, eying the manager who was entertaining a wildly gesticulating couple on the other side of the lobby, as he apologized to the man next in long line for the wait.

They had then wandered out of the doors and down the road, looking rather lost until a brown-haired woman in a ruffled blouse and a pencil skirt had emerged from one of the towering skyscrapers, texting busily away on her mobile phone, stilettos clicking loud and fast against the pavement. After a short conversation, she directed them towards the nearest train station, right smack in the middle of all the concrete and glass skyscrapers. It wasn't like the train stations in Lecourt or some of the other worlds they had been to, it was more like the ones in Watanuki's world. It burrowed down underground, and the train shot down a long tunnel, snaking under the bustling city above them.

There had been a row of automated barriers that slammed shut when they attempted to get past it, and made loud beeping noises when they tried to follow another man in. Finally, a bemused staff member emerged from inside a little hut by the barriers and help them purchase a ticket from one of the machines against the wall. The people milling about were pretty nice, readily and politely offering directions when asked, and always willing to redirect them to someone else when they couldn't help. The weather was pleasant—as they noticed when the train emerged from the underground tunnel into the open—and the environment perfectly amiable.

Yet, Kurogane still could not get rid of the dread lingering from that morning. Fai seemed alright, laughing and pointing out of the window with childish excitement, if not a little paler than usual. When he had pointed that out, the blonde had waved his concern off, saying that he was imagining things. But by the time they had missed lunch because they'd gotten lost, and had to ask someone how to get back to the hotel (they had showed her the card with the hotel's address that they'd gotten from the front desk) Kurogane was certain that he wasn't imagining things. Fai seemed to be getting paler and paler despite the bright smile on his face, and he was beginning to pant slightly, which was strange for a man who could run up walls and swing himself through the air as if it were normal to defy gravity the way he did.

"Mage," he called as they exited the train, straining to catch hold of the wizard's arm as they were jostled about by the large crowd, "You should sit down for awhile."

Syaoran was making an abysmal attempt to keep his concern hidden, and Mokona made a miserable noise of concern from under his bag flap, because 'no pets were allowed on the stations and trains'.

"I'm perfectly fine," Fai mumbled breathlessly, paling further even as he said it, "You worry too mu—"

He slumped to the floor at the doorway amidst loud cries of shock and concern.

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><p>They had been rushed to a nearby hospital by the station's medical staff, who apparently were there to deal with these sort of happenings. According to them, people commonly fell down the moving stairs (they were called 'escalators') and broke their limbs.<p>

The doctor was strictly professional, speaking with confusing medical terminologies that Kurogane couldn't really understand although Fai—who had woken up as a nurse had stuck a needle in his arm and _left it in there—_was nodding away in the bed with a serious look on his face, practically drowning in the blue hospital gown the nurses had changed him into. The needle was still stuck in his arm, a transparent tube attached to it that led up to a bag hanging from a metal stand by the side of the bed.

They'd run a series of tests while Fai had been unconscious, and Kurogane was surprised by the speed which the results were back.

"...anemia, and proteinuria. We'll have you do an ultrasound scan just to confirm that there isn't anything seriously wrong, and if there isn't then you should be out by tomorrow," the doctor squinted at the clipboard at the bottom of Fai's bed, "Any medical condition I should know about?"

"Eh?" Fai said, "I don't think so?"

"Ah," the doctor said, writing down something and checking his watch, "Alright then. I should be going. I have a surgery to perform at three. The nurses should bring you to get your ultrasound done at about five."

And with that the doctor was gone.

Kurogane turned to the blonde as soon as that long white coat vanished around the doorway of the ward.

"What the _hell _did he say?"

Fai shrugged.

"No idea."

"_But you were nodding!"_

"That doesn't mean that I was _actually _listening to him, Kuro-silly."

A nurse giggled from the doorway, looking sheepish as they all started and turned to look at her.

"Sorry," she said, "I brought lunch. A very late lunch."

She pushed in a cart, with strangely only two plates.

"No food before scanning. Sorry, Mister err..." she quickly checked the clipboard, "Flourite."

"Fai's fine," Fai insisted with a dazzling grin.

"Alright then, Fai-san. I'm Kobato," the young woman told him, hands entwined sweetly in front of her, "As for what the doctor said..."

The nurse ducked down and read the clipboard with a small frown of concentration on her face.

"Anemia," she announced, "like low blood levels. High BUN, meaning there's excess urea in your blood, and also proteinuria, meaning protein in urine. Could be indicative of a problem with your kidneys so...Ah!"

She straightened up and smiled sweetly at them.

"You'll be going for a scan at five, to see if there's something wrong with your kidneys."

Some of the brunette's explanatin still flew right through his head, but it was better than the doctor's, and Kurogane sort of appreciated the effort anyway. The girl was a lot like Sakura. She hooked a bag onto the metal stand and attached the tube coming out of Fai's arm to it.

"Glucose," she explained, "like liquid food, injected straight into you so that you don't have to eat."

She smiled a close-eyed smile at them one last time, then wheeled her tray over to the next bed, chatting animately to the patient.

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><p>Another male nurse, in the very likeness of Sakura's brother, brought a wheelchair at five. Fai had shot him a bemused look as he stood from the bed unaided, leaving the book he had been reading on the bedside table. The front cover read: 'The Wizard of Oz'.<p>

"I can walk fine?"

The nurse shrugged offhandedly.

"Protocol," Touya explained drily, "a lot of this is protocol. Which is shit because most of the time people coming here don't have anything seriously wrong with them, but the doctors order CT scans and charge patients an arm and a leg for having them diagnose that there isn't anything wrong with them."

"We have to pay?"

The youth looked at them incredulously as he directed Fai to wheel the metal stand along as he walked, pushing the unoccupied wheelchair beside him as they left the ward.

"Of course you have you pay," he scoffed, "There's no free lunch here."

Fai frowned, an almost unnoticeable straining of lines, and lowered his gaze to the floor thoughtfully. Anybody else wouldn't have noticed the frown, but Kurogane was far from _anybody else_. He'd watched the mage's face enough that he knew his subtle tells like the back of his hand. In fact, he probably knew Fai's face even better than the back of his hand. The back of his hand was far more uninteresting that Fai's face. Not that he thought Fai was good-looking or anything! Kurogane's eyes were drawn inexplicably to the elegant sweep of his lowered lashes over slightly freckled cheeks, the delicate hollow of his cheek, angled jaw, long nose...

Okay. So Fai was _gorgeous_, happy? Kurogane was a man who knew how to appreciate aesthetics (A voice that sounded disturbingly like Tomoyo began to disagree in his head. He ignored it), and if he watched the damn idiot more often than most, it was with the same attitude as a critic reviewing a piece of art. That was all.

"Kuro-chi is staring at me again."

Kurogane spluttered. _Again? _There was no _again!_ This was a one-off thing; he had better things to do than stare at Fai. And if he stared, it purely because he knew how to appreciate aesthetics! (The Tomoyo-sounding voice continued to disagree. He continued to ignore it.)

"It's because you're frowning like it's the end of the world or something!" he yelled defensively, scowling as several nurses popped their heads out of the nearby wards to shush him disapprovingly.

"Kuro-drama is exaggerating," Fai teased. At Kurogane's prompting cock of an eyebrow (go on, out with it), the glitter in his eyes subsided somewhat. He looked down again with an almost self-deprecating smile, "It's just... we don't have enough money for this, Kuro-sama."

Kurogane knocked him upside the head, _lightly_, affectionately. Fai's new truthfulness was refreshing; he felt the corner of his lips lift up despite himself. Fai flashed a smile in return, a sweet one that crinkled his eyes at the corner, and his blue eyes shine with a gentle twinkle_. _Before the ninja could reply, Sakura's brother made a sharp turn into a lift lobby, leading them into the lift. Kurogane didn't like lifts. They made his ears pop and his stomach lurch unpleasantly, and whenever the doors opened again they weren't in the same place anymore. He turned and told Fai so, and the blonde's eyes positively _gleamed _with mirth as the doors began to slide open.

"Kuro-puppy," he called as he started to wheel the metal stand out along with him, looking very much amused, "I don't think we're in Kansas anymore."

Kurogane and Syaoran just stared blankly as the mage and their nurse broke down into raucous laughter.

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><p>"Well, you seem to be missing <em>something important <em>here," the doctor said, pursing his lips as the ultrasound appeared on the screen, "Care to tell me why you didn't inform me of this?"

"Missing something?" Kurogane exploded.

"A kidney," the doctor elaborated, "Your friend is missing a _kidney_."

"Oh!" Fai said suddenly, blue eyes widening as understanding lit his face, "I'd forgotten about that."

"Forgotten?" Kurogane spluttered incredulously, "How do you forget about something like _that?"_

"Well, you know, Kuro-youngling," Fai said breezily, "When you're as old as I am, you tend to forget little things like that."

"_Little?"_

The doctor looked a cross between amused and disapproving as their familiar banter ensued.

"Erm, doctor..." called a radiologist tentatively, staring intently at the screen, "I think you should look at this."

Syaoran moved around the bed to gaze curiously over the doctor's shoulder at the blurry screen as the two adults continued arguing in the background. The doctor and the radiologists were speaking in low voices, gesturing towards a spot on the screen. The boy made a shushing motion towards his companions, trying to listen in on the quiet conversation happening in front of him.

"Is there something wrong, doctor?"

The doctor looked solemn as he turned to face them.

"An abnormal growth has been discovered in your kidneys. It might be cancerous, we cannot be certain yet. We are going to run a kidney biopsy to determine the nature of the abnormality. Is that alright with you?"

Fai blinked.

"Erm," he began tentatively, "Sure?"

They had later wheeled Fai into a room that smelled strongly of sterilizers, despite his protests that he could walk perfectly fine, thank you very much. The blonde had quietened as the doctor whipped out a long, _thick _needle, blue eyes widening.

"Nuh uh," he had said, backing away, eyes wider than Kurogane had ever seen them, "There is _no way _you are putting that in me. It's too big. It won't fit. It'll _hurt_."

Kurogane pointedly did not think dirty thoughts.

The results came first thing in the morning, even though the doctor had said it would probably arrive earliest the night after.

"Possibly cancer," he has said, looking mightily bewildered, "exponential cell growth, but cell structure unlike anything I've ever seen before."

"_Possibly?" _Kurogane repeated, "How about either a yes or a no?"

"It's the strangest thing I've seen in my life," the doctor all but exploded into a long rant that they understood less than half of, "I had some other pathologists come from other hospitals to take a look at the tissue sample."

The three travelers exchanged bemused glances as the previously composed doctor ranted and gesticulated wildly.

"It was growing. _In front of my eyes! _No, it must be a lab error, I—_we _just don't know what to make of it!"

"So," interrupted Fai, "Am I gonna die?"

The doctor froze mid-rant.

"If the presumably cancerous tumor continues to grow at its current rate," began the doctor carefully, "there is a high chance of mortality."

The room was silent.

"But of course, we can attempt to prevent further spread of growth," the doctor added so hastily that Kurogane wondered what their faces must have looked like at that moment, "In fact, it might just be a lab error. It is unlikely for such rapid growth to occur naturally... or even _un_naturally for that matter."

"So what are we going to do now?" asked Syaoran in a small voice.

The doctor paused.

"If you haven't eaten breakfast, we are going to perform another biopsy in fifteen minutes, just to make sure there is no error with the sample we took the last time. I will tell the lab that this is an emergency, so the results should be in by this afternoon. Then we'll decide what to do from there."

That somehow didn't sound very reassuring.

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><p><strong>AN: Gahhh! Thank you for the reviews! (Is it just me or do I have this strange thing for writing Kurogane-in-denial?) I'm sorry I haven't replied yet (to those to left signed reviews) but school really has been busy! I'll get around to doing it right after posting this. And to misere I only have this to say. IT'S TIME TO ENABLE YOUR PM SO THAT I CAN THANK YOU FOR YOUR WONDERFUL REVIEWS. (Your review on The Stroke of Midnight? That made. my. day. This is me (/`A`)/ worshipping you (_`A`)_ ) And the amount of faves I've gotten makes me want to jump off a building. (not in a bad way, but in a freaking good way) YOU PEOPLE FAVED A PROLOGUE? *faints* I don't know if I'll live up to your faves in the following chapters. OTL Anyway, the chapters will all be pretty short, because if I go ahead and do my usual 7k words per chapter, then I'll never get around to posting chapters up. School really is hectic, sigh. Sorry if there's mistakes, or if the language isn't flowy. I haven't really had that much time to do as much editing as I generally do.**

**OH! And lastly, thank you all those people who've been like reviewing every single one of my stories. It's good to see you people again ^^. I WILL ADD OIL (chinese direct translation: jia you, sort of like ganbatte) TO UPDATE *u*b.**

**Reviewers are my inspiration, so REVIEW!**


	3. Of Wards and Sponsors

**Summary: There is no lab error. A government official offers sponsorship on the condition that Fai allows them to study him for a possible mutations of the disease. Fai accepts on the condition that they get a better ward. Kurogane is not happy.**

**Warnings:** **Yaoi pairings. KUROFAI! Hospitals, a bit of humor and a bit of angst. Fai being Fai (and hiding things from everyone else). Kurogane being Kurogane (meaning that there will be swearing. Like duh.) Fluff interspersed. THIS IS NOT DEATH-FIC. FAI GETS BETTER.**

**A/N: This was in response to a prompt given to me by a friend, which is "Fai gets cancer. BUT DOESN'T DIE PLEASE!".**

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><p>The time seemed to trickle by, like an hourglass, except grain by small grain of the finest sand at a time.<p>

The ward had been mostly quiet until they had come; shouting, snarling, and Fai's melodious laughter filling the room. But now, it was so silent once again that the other patients and nurses were glancing concernedly over at them. Syaoran was huddled in a small plastic chair in between Fai's bed and the window looking out into the hospital's garden, a miserably small splatter of green within the prison of the white hospital walls. Kurogane was leaning against said window with his arms folded across his chest, not meeting their eyes. Mokona had come out of hiding, because none of them were in any state to care who saw her anymore, and was cuddled up in Fai's lap, whispering softly to him. 'The Wizard of Oz' lay forgotten beside a pitcher of water on the bedside table.

When the doctor walked in, all heads turned towards him; the nurses because normally the doctor only came to the wards twice a day, at designated hours. It was not the designated hour. The travelers because they were expecting the results of Fai's 'biopsy'. And the rest of the patients because that was where everyone was looking. The doctor faltered momentarily at the doorway, looking visibly unnerved by the stares, before he crossed the room.

"The same was observed this time around," the doctor said softly, hesitating before adding a shockingly genuine, "I'm sorry."

"Does this mean Fai is going to die?" Mokona asked in a small voice, sounding heartbreakingly lost.

The doctor blinked at Mokona, confusion and curiosity clouding his features. Kurogane's impatient throat-clearing brought him back to the question.

"If we do not begin treatment immediately, it is very much likely," answered the doctor, "the rate of growth seems to have increased from yesterday. The cells found in the abnormal growth is unlike anything seen up till now. It is entirely possible that this may be a whole new mutation of cancer. I would recommend that the patient immediately commence chemotherapy, if that's alright with you?"

There was a moment of silence before anybody answered.

"What is it that defines cancer?" asked Fai, looking thoughtfully into his palms, folded neatly on his lap.

"Well, in your case," the doctor began manner-of-factly, "it's the exponential growth of your kidneys. More specifically, the tubules, where your missing kidney ought to be."

"Rapid growth?" Fai repeated, eyebrows shooting up.

"Yes, meaning that there is abnormally rapid tissue growth occurring in your kidneys."

"Oh... I see..." Fai lowered his gaze back down into his palms for a moment longer before a stunningly wide grin split across his face, "But I'm afraid that we simply do not have the sort of money to pay for this 'chemotherapy'. In fact, we can barely pay for our hotel!"

Syaoran's jaw dropped and Mokona stared incredulously at the blonde at his 180 degree skidding swerve in demeanor, and his completely inappropriate answer to the doctor's announcement of his almost certain death.

Kurogane was not quite so passive.

A nurse screamed as the ninja punched a hole through the window with his metal fist, not that anyone else would know—apart from his traveling companions—due to the synthetic skin covering the tangled wires and thick cables.

"What the fuck, mage?" he yelled, "Do you_ want _to die? I don't care if the treatment's gonna drive us broke, I'll work a day _and _nightshift if I bloody well have to."

"I will as well, Fai-san," interjected Syaoran solemnly.

"But you can't," the doctor interrupted, "You're underage! And the law states that—"

"It doesn't matter," Syaoran insisted, flinty determination so unnervingly firm in his stance that the doctor fell silent, "I'll do it illegally if I have to."

"Mokona too!"

Before the doctor could say anything to that, the patient in question cut into the conversation with an airy laugh.

"Kuro-daddy, this is all completely unnecessary! I—"

Syaoran and Mokona promptly erupted into passionate protests as Kurogane exploded into enraged shouting over Fai's insistent dismissals and the doctor's incredulous ranting in the background.

"Silence!"

Everybody fell silent at the authoritative command. A severe looking woman stood at the door, lips pursed into a thin line and stilettos—so sharp they looked as if they could be used as an impromptu instrument of murder—clacking decisively against the tiled floor as she strode across the room.

"There will be no issue of money or a lack thereof here," she began, holding up a hand as Fai began to protest, "I've been informed of a suspected mutation of pre-existing cancer into one much deadlier than what we have today." She turned towards Fai's cot, "You are in denial," she said bluntly, pointing a manicured talon at the wizard in question, "but that doesn't change the fact that you are definitely going to die if no action is taken immediately."

"Actually," the doctor interrupted, "In medical terms you can never say definitely because—"

The doctor shrank back at the look on the woman's face.

"Your treatment will be sponsored by the government," the woman continued, ignoring the collective gasps around the room, "But only on the condition that you allow extra tests to be conducted, and the results to be used for scientific research."

Fai blinked, opening his mouth dazedly, about to protest further.

"Your accommodation and your friend's accommodation will also be paid for."

Fai's mouth snapped shut.

"Alright then," he agreed as he stretched languidly across his pillow like a cat, a lazy grin spreading slowly across his face, "But I won't take too kindly to being cut open and dissected by mad scientists."

The woman smirked.

"There'll be none of that. You won't have to undergo anything that barbaric. You will get a private ward and first-class accommodations will be arranged for your friends within your ward."

Fai's grin looked positively _feline _as he held out his hand to shake on it.

"You got yourself a deal."

They had been moved into a large new ward. If one were to be precise about it, it wasn't so much a ward than an entire hotel suite built into the hospital. There were two rooms, a small one with a single bed and an attached toilet, and a bigger one with a wide hospital cot (looking much comfier than the one in the previous ward) and an even bigger attached toilet with bars along the wars for Fai to support himself with should the need arise. There was a sofa set and a dining table in the sitting room, together with what they had learnt in previous worlds was called a 'television'. There was more than enough space for a second bed to be pushed into Fai's room alongside the sofa by the window (_it would be better for someone to be with the patient at all times_, said the doctor) and the place was air-conditioned.

"Hyuu~!" Fai 'whistled' as they walked into the room, pointedly ignoring the wheelchair being wheeled alongside him—he wasn't an invalid yet—and Kurogane felt like punching him, "What a nice ward they've given us. Ne, Kuro-kicchi?"

"Mage," he ground out, "You agreed to let them experiment on your body just for better accommodations and free treatment?"

"Well, that's one, money, two, accommodations, and three, job-hunting, problems down," Fai shrugged off-handedly as he fluffed up his pillows, "I think it was a rather good deal. Oh! And they also promised not to cut me up like a lab-rat, so they're pretty much paying me to receive treatment. What's not to like?"

Kurogane barely restrained himself from lifting the mage's scrawny frame from the bed by his skinny neck. Instead, he slammed his hand into the bed-frame by his blonde head.

"What happens if... _when. _When they find out that you're—" A demon? A monster? Vampire? Not human? Fai glared at him, daring him to finish his sentence, "—not like them. When they find out you're not like them. They're not gonna mind slicing up to see what if you look the same on the inside."

"That's not going to happen."

"You can't say for sure."

Fai sighed.

"Well, _if _they find out then we can run. I have magic, you have your big, bad sword, and _Mokona _has the ability to send us into a whole other dimension."

"Then how about that damned can—" Kurogane stumbled over the foreign terminology for a short moment before giving up. He was a _ninja_, not a goddamned doctor!

"That _thing!" _he yelled frustratedly, "That thing growing inside you!"

"Ma~ Kuro-daddy," Fai drawled, sounding very amused, "Should you really be talking about our baby like that?"

It took him a second to get Fai's reference to his exclamation, but when he did he felt fury coil dangerously in his gut, curdling like sour milk.

"This is serious, _Fai_," he spat out the blonde's name with something akin to disgust, voice dropping into a low, dangerous snarl as his fingers curled into the collar of that ugly hospital gown despite himself, "You're going to _die _and you don't give a fucking shit."

Fai smiled coldly as he hung from the hand fisted at his collar, lifting him bodily off the sheets.

"What would you like me to do, ne?" he said drily, sarcastically, "Abort the baby?"

Kurogane snarled and raised him higher of the bed, other hand fisting by his side.

"Kurogane-san!"

He dropped the mage back into the bed with a cry of fury at Syaoran's startled cry, instead turning and smashing his fist into the wall.

His real one.

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><p><strong>AN: Ahhh! I cannot stand the shortness of my chapters! But I think this would be the most appropriate place to stop the chapter. Sigh, I will mention again that this was supposed to be one whole one-shot. A monster one like my last one-shot. But maybe not as big of a monster because _that _particular one-shot was 19k+ words! Well, then again I cannot predict precisely how many words this will end up to be. I've written the end, but there's this huge blank gap between here and the end, haha. I don't usually write my fics in order. I tend to skip all over the place. Anyway, oh no! Kurogane and Fai are fighting! Well, not to worry dear readers, I am hopelessly unable to break my own heart and thus they will make up in the next chapter. I suppose people who have read my other stories would have realized that I have this terrible tendency to have very short scenes (separated by line-breaks) so I'll prove to you how hopelessly hopeless I am by revealing that they make up in the very first 'section' of the next chapter OTL. I just cannot bear to drag their fight out. And aha! Chemotherapy starts in the next chapter! If you spot any typos, please tell me and I will correct it. I have much less type to edit now that school have started, so I'd really appreciate some extra eyes around. Thank you to all those who have reviewed!**

**Reviews inspire me, so please review!**


	4. Of Chemo and Hairloss

**Summary: Fai begins treatment. Doctors beware.**

**Warnings:** **Yaoi pairings. KUROFAI! Hospitals, a bit of humor and a bit of angst. Fai being Fai (and hiding things from everyone else). Kurogane being Kurogane (meaning that there will be swearing. Like duh.) Fluff interspersed. THIS IS NOT DEATH-FIC. FAI GETS BETTER.**

**A/N: This was in response to a prompt given to me by a friend, which is "Fai gets cancer. BUT DOESN'T DIE PLEASE!".**

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><p>Fai had begun treatment the very same day they had been moved into the ward. A nurse had come in and raised an eyebrow at Kurogane as she bandaged his bloodied fist, quickly averting her eyes when he glared at her. Fai was conspicuously stony towards him, and Kurogane was pointedly ignoring him; he knew he was being silly, but every time he looked back at the blonde, he could still feel the anger simmering under his skin.<p>

The enforced silence only lasted the next day, several hours after Fai's morning dose of chemo medications.

"Fai-san, you really must eat," Syaoran insisted worriedly, "You must keep your strength up."

"It's alright, Syaoran-kun," Fai said, looking rather pale as he offered them a strained smile, "I'm not hungry."

"Fai is lying," Mokona cut in, sounding upset, "Fai must eat more now that he's undergoing treatment!"

The wizard placed a gentle hand on white fur, laughing shakily as he reached for the silver fork sitting by his plate.

"Well, if you insist."

He managed to keep the thin porridge down for a grand total of two seconds before quickly bending over the rails of his cot and hurling it right back up. Kurogane moved swiftly forward, sitting on the side of Fai's bed as he held long blonde hair away from that pale face, rubbing soothingly at his back. It was hard to stay mad at the blonde, especially when he was in such a pathetic state. Fai gave a last dry retch as the nurses began spilling into the room to clean up the mess, fetching a basin to put by his bed as the patient in question slumped back into the ninja's arms in exhaustion, groaning miserably. He absently turned his cheek against Kurogane's warm chest, eyes closed.

The doctor had later informed them that since Fai's dosage was especially strong, in consideration of the strange nature of his condition, the side effects would also be accordingly stronger and more potent; weight loss, vomiting, and loss of appetite being obvious side effects. Fai, he warned them, was also very likely to start hair loss in a few treatment's time.

"But Fai has such pretty hair," Mokona had said mournfully. Syaoran had nodded sadly alongside the magical creature and, while he did agree with them, Kurogane would never admit that he thought Fai's hair was 'pretty'. Fai had laughed at them all, face still slightly greenish from the dose administered just a few hours back.

"Why is it that you are all more devastated by the potential loss of my hair than _I _am?"

Then he promptly turned and emptied his lunch and breakfast into the basin the nurses had wisely left by his bed from his first treatment.

But contrary to the doctor's predictions, Fai's head remained as blonde as ever. And even if his hair was perpetually mussed (Kurogane did _not _think he looked sexy with his hair down and tousled) from being unbound and tangled against a pillow the whole day long, it still tumbled over his shoulders in luscious waves. It had gotten much longer since they had left Sakura behind in Clow for the first time, and he could have passed for a woman if not for his flat chest, broad shoulders, and the distinctive sinewy muscles of his lean arms.

Warily, the doctor had ordered a stronger dosage. Kurogne felt the people here were strange. Instead of being glad and thanking the deities that a foretold misfortune has not come to pass, they worried and fretted and tried to arrange things so that the foretold misfortune _would _indeed come to pass.

The dosage kept increasing in amount and strength, the doctor got progressively hysterical, new scans were constantly being arranged, and Fai continued to get sicker and sicker with every dosage. Still, his hair remained as thick as ever. Syaoran was beginning to fret that the strong dosage would kill him before his hair would start falling out. The doctor was beginning to fret that the chemotherapy wasn't taking effect, especially when the scans showed that the growth was continuing to grow, albeit at a reduced pace. Kurogane was beginning to fret because the doctor was fretting, and if the _doctor _was fretting, that could very well mean that Fai was dying. The man in question seemed perfectly fine with everything, still his usual smiley, goofy, _idiotic _self. And if the blonde had noticed the subtle sallowing of his cheeks, and the almost unnoticeable thinning of his limbs, he simply laughed it off.

On the sidelines, _Mokona _was beginning to fret that the increased dosage really _would _cause Fai's 'pretty' hair to fall out.

And so it was to Kurogane's infinite relief, as Fai was getting up to take a shower, to find curling strands of shimmering gold scattered liberally across the fluffy pillows of the hospital bed. He relaxed and waited for the hair loss to show, so that the doctor would stop increasing the _poison _he was pouring into the mage's veins, day after day.

It never did.

Everyday he would note new hairs on the pillow, sweep them off the bed, only to notice more replacing them the following day. Likewise, the bathroom sink and tub was perpetually clogged with distinctive pale hair, which he watched the nurses remove, only to be re-clogged the next day. And no matter how much hair Fai seemed to drop, his scalp never seemed to show through the glimmering locks. Kurogane was beginning to think that the hair was replenishing itself from an infinite source of hair, kept in an separate, invisible pocket of space and time (Like a whole other dimension. Of hair!) that encased Fai's head. Like those gold-fish bowl like helmets that astronauts wore. They'd watched a 'movie' on the 'television' in their ward, the one with the 'governess' called 'Mary Popping' (what a strange name; it made Kurogane think of popcorn) and her bag of infinite capacity! The bag was probably a pocket of space and time, a door to a whole other dimension in itself! Like the hypothetical gold-fish bowl that Fai had over his head.

"Have you ever though that maybe, just _maybe, _it could be the vampire blood?" Fai asked amusedly, "Ultra-regenerative abilities equals super growth, you know. My hair is growing back so quickly that you can't tell it's dropping in the first place."

Syaoran considered the notion for a long while.

"But Fai-san," he began slowly, "If that is so, then why is it that your hair naturally seems to grow at a normal speed?"

That stumped them.

"Oh! Mokona knows!" cried Mokona all of a sudden, "perhaps Fai only regenerates when he's injured, that's why his hair grows normally."

The brunette was skeptical.

"Then why doesn't he regenerate when he cuts his hair?"

"Mokona has a reason for that too!" cheered Mokona, looking mightily pleased with herself, "Hair is made out of dead cells, so they can't get hurt when Fai has his hair cut. But the stuff the doctor is putting in Fai is hurting him, and that's what's causing his hair to fall out. _That's _why Fai's hair is regenerating."

"_Waiii~!" _Fai cooed, "Mokona is so clever to be able to figure all that out!"

Mokona puffed up with pride.

"Of course," she boasted, "Mokona is everyone's i~dol!"

"Well, it doesn't matter _why _it's happening," Kurogane grumbled, "What the hell are we going to tell the doctor?"

A long silence followed his words.

* * *

><p>"You say your hair began falling off in <em>chunks <em>this morning?"

The doctor looked gleeful, immensely relieved, and apologetic all at once. Then all of a sudden his face fell.

"But your hair is just as thick as ever, Fai-san."

The wizard turned resentful blue eyes on the doctor, brimming with unshed tears.

"I'm wearing a _wig!" _he wailed.

Fai slumped back against the pillows propped up behind his back, pouting furiously with the distinctive aura of a sulking three-year-old.

"Would you take the wig off, Fai-san?" the doctor prodded gently, "I would like to take a look at your hair."

The blonde jerked back, looking positively scandalized.

"Take a _look?" _he demanded incredulously, "There's _nothing _to look at! I'm _bald!"_

He twisted around and swiped a fistful of tangled hairs from his pillow, shaking it angrily in the doctor's face. The man nervously took a step back from his distraught patient.

"Now, now, Fai-san. It's alright," he soothed, "You have such a nice face that I'm sure you still look attractive. Please let me have a l—"

"_Nooooo!" _Fai wailed, flailing wildly in the bed as the doctor reached out a place a hand on his shoulder, "I won't let you!"

"Fai-san, really it's—"

"Noooo! No! No! _Noooooooooo!_" screamed the magician, "I'm _hideous!"_

And then he burst into violent tears, shrieking and wailing and sobbing messily his flowery pillows, babbling something along the lines of "O woe! O woeful, woeful, woeful day!" and "Never was seen so black a day as this!"

In unison, Syaoran and Kurogane turned pointed glares at the doctor, who took another step back in half-guilt—from the accusation in narrowed amber eyes—and half-fear—from the sharpness in piercing red ones.

"But I—" he stammered, turning to the nurses gathered around Fai's bed for back-up."

Souma, Suzuran, and Kendappa turned identical glares at him as they stroked Fai's shaking shoulders. The doctor withered under the force of their collective glares, bearing an uncanny resemblance a parchment in flame.

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><p><strong>AN: I AM SO SORRY. I've been really busy the past (how long since I've last updated). I've had so many exams and assignments due. Luckily, my last paper for the term was yesterday... Of course, I have another paper next Thursday, but that's almost an entire week away! And I really need a break. And also I got... distracted. By cracky thoughts of Sakura saving the world. Which led to me writing an unrelated one-shot, which delayed my updating. Ahem, yes. It's a really short one-shot called Ueno, and it's on my profile. If you have time, I fully encourage you to go and read it (shameless pimping) *shot*. It's called Ueno and it's on my profile. I think you'd have a better understanding of the oneshot if you have at least a basic knowledge of the plot of X1999. I finally finished reading it last last week, and I was so **_**depressed! **_**Because...because...THEY'RE ALL GONNA DIE. AND I LOVE THEM. AND THEY'RE GONNA DIE DDDDDDD: ! Which kinda led to me thinking of HOW they could be saved, and then I just HAD to have Oblivious!Sakura saving the world obliviously. Not to mention that I haven't written a fic with Sakura in it for the longest time. SINCE BURNING WITCHES. So I really wanted to write her again. Well whatever it is, sorry for the long wait. And please do review! I am always much more motivated to update when I get reviews *hint hint* *shot*.**

**And since authors never seem to die from being shot in their ANs, here I have come back to life to remind you again: PLEASE REVIEW. AND PLEASE TELL ME IF YOU SEE ANY TYPOS.**


	5. Of Emaciation and Insecurity

**Summary: Kurogane sees the true extent of Fai's deterioration. Confrontation ensues.**

**Warnings:** **Yaoi pairings. KUROFAI! Hospitals, a bit of humor and a bit of angst. Fai being Fai (and hiding things from everyone else). Kurogane being Kurogane (meaning that there will be swearing. Like duh.) Fluff interspersed. THIS IS NOT DEATH-FIC. FAI GETS BETTER.**

**A/N: This was in response to a prompt given to me by a friend, which is "Fai gets cancer. BUT DOESN'T DIE PLEASE!".**

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><p>Despite the blinding smile, there were things that the wizard could not hide. The sallowing of his cheeks, the bags under his eyes, the blanching of his skin. It was a small change, one that no one would notice at a glance... And the reason why Kurogane noticed was because he was a man who could appreciate aesthetics. Yes. That was why. That was the sole reason why Kurogane found his gaze wandering inexplicably to those blue eyes, those long, golden lashes, and those coral-pink lips. Because Fai was like a painting. Yep. Like one of those angels that that guy, what was his name? Botticelli. Yes. Like that guy painted.<p>

And so it wasn't really that surprising that Kurogane noticed the changes that Fai seemed so determined to ignore. He'd brought the issue up a few times, but in that manner so classically _Fai, _the magician in question only laughed it off.

"It's the light, Kuro-chuu."

"Kuro-blind should go get his eyes checked."

"What a vivid imagination you have, Kuro-kicchi!"

"I think Kuro-hottie would look good with glasses. Maybe Daddy should get a pair?"

"My, my, Kuro-stalker. Are you _watching _me?"

It was late one afternoon when Kurogane first saw it. Opening the door to the sight of naked skin, his first thought (fine, his first _after _ogling for a moment) was to avert his eyes. In the stark light of the sun, Fai's silhouette against the window was like a willow. Tall with slim, graceful limbs, long neck, long fingers, the strands of his usually pale hair ablaze in the sun. He could have been an angel, if not for the horrifying sight of his ribcage, his shoulder blades, his pelvis, his spine; all sharp angles and jutting bone. He was hunched over, clearly in the process of pulling his gown off, and Kurogane could see every individual vertebrae snaking down his back like a long dotted line. The hollows of his hipbones and pelvis were thrown into sharp relief, shadows dark under his protruding shoulder blades. As Kurogane raked his eyes down the wizard's side, he could count the separate ribs, see how thin they were, how _frail _the man was.

And that frailty scared him.

"Kuro-sama?" Fai sounded panicked as his body, his _emaciated _body, gave a little twitch, as if he were trying to jump out of his own skin. He pulled his discarded clothing to his chest, trying vainly to hide what Kurogane had already seen, "Why—what are you—I thought you went out with Syaoran-kun!"

The ninja crossed the room in three strides, easily tearing the hospital gown from Fai's grasp. Weak. The mage's normally strong fingers gave the cloth up much too easily.

"Kuro-sa_ma!_"

Up close, Kurogane could clearly see the extent to which Fai's body had wasted. His collarbones were startlingly thin, ending at the hollow of his neck, sunken so deeply it looked like it could have been a hole in his torso. The warrior remembered, with a gut-wrenching pang of fear, his dream: the dark, bloodied hole in Fai's breast. How could he have been so stupid? How could he have been so _blind? _Why hadn't he noticed it sooner?

Fai yanked the sheets up and reached for the hospital gown.

"Kuro— _Ow!" _

The magician broke off in a pained yelp as Kurogane snatched his wrist out of the way. The bone of Fai's forearm felt brittle in his hand, like he could snap it in half with a tightening of his fingers. He loosened his hold.

"Why didn't you say something?"

The blonde pried his hand away.

"Can I at least put some clothes on _first?"_

Chastised, the warrior returned Fai's clothing and turned away.

"Why?" he demanded. (He did _not _sound petulant. Not at all.)

"It wasn't like I could just bring it up in a normal conversation," Fai sulked, voice muffled from under the cloth, "What was I supposed to say?"

Kurogane turned around and helped the blonde tug the hem of his hospital gown down over his stomach.

"I dunno, something. _Anything._"

"Hey! Look, Kuro-pin!" Fai suddenly chimed brightly, lifting the hem of his shirt up to reveal his jutting ribs, "Cool, huh?"

The shinobi scowled and tugged the gown down again.

"The sarcasm is not appreciated."

Sensing that an answer was still expected, Fai shrugged.

"I didn't see the need to tell you."

Kurogane felt the overwhelming urge to throttle the blonde, not for the first time. But with the memory of his gaunt body still fresh in his mind, he simply grasped onto the rail of Fai's cot.

"You could _die._"

Fai only shrugged, but there was something in his eye like guilt that made the ninja hesitate. Red eyes narrowed.

"What are you hiding?"

The wizard cocked a blonde eyebrow.

"Why, nothing at all."

"Stop lying," Kurogane growled, fingers tightening on metal, "You could die."

Blue eyes flicked down to his hands.

"Don't break the bed," Fai told him, "You've damaged a lot of hospital property already."

"I'd rather break the bed than break _you._"

Fai laughed at him. _Laughed _at _him._

"I'm not so easy to break, Kuro-brute."

The metal screamed in protest as tanned fingers tightened.

"Have you _seen _yourself, mage?" Kurogane snatched a bony wrist up between them, pushing the long sleeves back, "Look at this. _Look at this! _There's _nothing _left! Do you even see this?"

The wizard jerked his wrist away.

"Yes, believe it or not, I _have,_" he snarled, "I didn't want you to see—"

Fai cut himself off.

"I don't need _you _to tell me I'm ugly and unloveable!"

The magician's voice cracked, and he turned away quickly, blonde bangs falling over his face. Kurogane blinked. He sounded... Did he...? No. That was a dangerous train of thought. Fai didn't care what _Kurogane_ thought. It wasn't like he was some teenage girl with a crush or something. Absolutely not. Fai was too... too _beautiful_ to ever feel attracted to someone like him. Not Fai, with his hair like the sun, eyes like the sky and the stars, lily-white skin like the moon. Not Fai, who was so brave, so clever, so kind, so _broken._ He wasn't ugly, he was _beautiful. _And he wasn't unloveable because Kurogane—

Because the kids loved him. Sakura and Syaoran and Mokona. He was much too important to them.

_(he ignored that quiet part of him that told him he was a hypocrite for demanding that fai stop running from the truth.)_

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><p><strong>AN: Sorry this is so short. I'm sort of stuck at the moment, but that's normal so the issue will probably resolve itself. No need to worry, dear readers! I would never abandon a (published) fic midway! Reviews help though. Oh yes, reviews are so... motivational! That's why you should definitely review! *hint hint* *shot* Anyway, I foresee that the fic should end in maybe 2-3 chapters? I DID tell you people that this was supposed to be a one-shot. But in the end because I'm lazy and all, and oh-so-distractible, I decided to break it down into teensy-weensy tiny chapters like this. Like wow, only 1000+ words! But my school-break has just started so I'll probably be able to catch up with all my writings now. Sorry for the long wait and once again, if you see any typos please do tell me. I will say again that I do not have a beta, so your input is really important to me. Thank you for taking the time to read! (And hopefully comment.)**

**Once more, REVIEW!**


	6. Of Irritation and Funding

**Summary: Things are going downhill. The government withdraws their funding.**

**Warnings:** **Yaoi pairings. KUROFAI! Hospitals, a bit of humor and a bit of angst. Fai being Fai (and hiding things from everyone else). Kurogane being Kurogane (meaning that there will be swearing. Like duh.) Fluff interspersed. THIS IS NOT DEATH-FIC. FAI GETS BETTER.**

**A/N: This was in response to a prompt given to me by a friend, which is "Fai gets cancer. BUT DOESN'T DIE PLEASE!".**

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><p>"Where are you going?"<p>

Fai stopped at the doorway and sighed.

"Bathroom, Kuro-mom, as I'm sure you can see," he explained slowly, with utmost patience, "Or am I supposed to use a potty?"

The ninja crossed the distance between them in a few strides.

"I'll go with you."

The blonde turned incredulously to him.

"Have we become elementary school girls now?" he exclaimed, "I'm not afraid of ghosts in the bathroom so you can stay here. Or are _you _afraid of being in the room alone? Did you watch a horror movie, Kuro-sweetie? Didn't Fai-mommy tell you not to since you seem to be so affected by them?"

Kurogane ignored the jab.

"You're not well," he deadpanned; Fai had been growing increasingly irritable at his 'mothering' since _that _day, and he had learnt to ignore the blonde's thinly-veiled insults, "It's not safe for you to go alone."

"_I,_" Fai began thunderously, "am not an _invalid!_"

And slammed the door in Kurogane's face.

From there, things had just gone downhill. The wizard's physical state had gotten so bad that even Syaoran had begun to notice, even through the hospital gown. Fai trembled when he stood, naturally thin and long legs unable to support now that all his muscle mass had been stripped to the bone. Ironically—and with no small amount of frustration—the magician had found himself unable to support himself without the bars by the walls of the bathroom. Whenever the glass shook as he tried to take a drink of water, he would _look_ at Kurogane, daring him to comment. The warrior kept silent, but pointedly watched the mage struggle. _I told you so, _his red eyes accused. _I told you so. _Fai would get as close to a scowl as he possibly could, and ignore him. The doctor came in one day looking harried, and mumbled—unable to meet their eye—that their _generous _sponsors would withdraw if there were no results. Fai was an _experiment _after all, they didn't care about _Fai_. If their "research" showed no conclusion, why continue to waste money on it? He was disposable to them.

Things came to a head the day Fai got out of bed and immediately collapsed to the floor, knees buckling under his (unsubstantial) weight.

"I'm fine!" he all but snapped, even though Kurogane was supporting all of his weight, even though his hands were still gripping at tanned biceps.

"I haven't said anything."

"Good. Don't start."

Fai shoved at Kurogane's hands with more force than necessary; Kurogane easily let him go, unwilling to wrestle with him when he was already out of breath from the mere exertion of getting out of bed. The wizard spun on his heel, took one step away from the shinobi, and collapsed forwards. Kurogane reached out and caught him under the arms.

"Stop that," Fai yelled, turning to shove at him again but only fell against him, volume swallowed up by his breathlessness.

Kurogane caught him around the waist.

"Stop what? Stop catching you?" he asked sarcastically, rolling his eyes, "So I'm supposed to let you crack your head open on the floor?"

"Shut _up!" _Fai snarled viciously, talons digging into tanned shoulders.

Kurogane paused. _Looked_ at him. Fai retracted his claws, lowering his head so that his silky bangs fell over his eyes like a blonde curtain.

"Sorry," he mumbled. "I just..."

The ninja absently transferred his grip to Fai's ribs. Paused, disturbed that his hands were so large in comparison to the wizard's frame that his thumbs met over his sternum; if he squeezed, Fai's ribs would probably break. He could feel the ribs expanding with every breath, brittle ribs pressing into his palms as they did. Under his thumbs he could feel Fai's fluttering heartbeat with a feeling akin to what it might feel like holding a baby bird in a loose fist. He moved his hands back to Fai's hips. Paused again. Wrapped his arms around that slim waist, cushioning and cradling the mage.

"I will never let you fall," he murmured into Fai's hair.

Skeletal fingers tightened in his shirt. A shaky breath was released into his clavicle. Fai's body was still. Unnaturally still. As if he was carefully holding back any form of movement. His blonde head was bowed into Kurogane's chest.

"You shouldn't hold me like this," he whispered, "We're...we're not..."

He exhaled, breath rattling. Kurogane waited for a moment more before prompting him.

"Not what?"

The gentleness of his own voice scared him. He had never spoken to anyone that way, not even before his parents died, not even to Tomoyo, not even to Sakura.

"_Lovers,_" Fai breathed.

He could feel his own breath coming out strange. In the silence of the dimly lit ward, their breathlessness whispered loud between them as they stood chest-to-chest, Fai's head still bowed, Kurogane facing straight ahead, both pointedly not making eye contact. Stiffly, they both stood frozen, waiting for the other to react first, waiting for laughter, or waiting for yelling, waiting for normalcy to return.

It did not.

The sound of their breathing was strangely intimate.

"Do you..."

Never so unsure, never so hesitant. Fai was a list of first times. First time he'd underestimated someone. First time he'd protected someone who didn't need protecting. First time he'd allowed himself to tie someone to him forever. First time he'd had his heart broken. First time he'd unthinkingly sacrificed for someone. Fai was special. Because Fai was...

He licked his lips, closing his eyes.

"Do you..."

_Because he—_

The door burst open.

The light from the hallway was so uncomfortably bright that he could see it even through his eyelids. A flick of the ward's light-switch, and suddenly it was like they had woken up from a dream. They sprang apart, Kurogane whipping around to face the other wall, Fai spinning around and stumbling forward into the table, planting his palms onto it to support himself.

Syaoran stormed in, angry like they'd never seen him. Mokona bounced from his shoulder to burrow in Kurogane's chest, small white body trembling in the ninja's palms.

"_Get in here!_"

"Syaoran-kun?" Fai called to him in concern, "What's wrong?"

The boy whipped around to face them, reaching back to yank the doctor forward by his white, starched collar.

"Ask _him!_"

His voice cracked; there were tears in his eyes. He quickly turned away, swiping angrily at his eyes.

The doctor pushed his glasses up and righted it from it's askew slant over his nose-bridge. He tugged at his collar, fiddled with the pen in his front pocket, smoothed his white coat down, played with the ends of his sleeves, then finally clasped his hands together and wrung them distressedly, eyes still somewhere off to the left.

"Th-the government has withdrawn their funding, and we—Err, that is to say the hospital, we cannot... cannot..." the doctor took a deep breath, "We have to stop treatment."

A pause.

"So... what will happen if we stop treatment?"

The doctor fidgeted uncomfortably. Cleared his throat.

"There's a... a high chance of mortality."

There was a long moment of silence.

"Do you mean to say..." Kurogane began dangerously, voice raising as he spoke "You're just going to _stand there, _and watch him _die?"_

He ended in a shout, and the doctor took a few steps back.

"Now, now Kurogane-san," the doctor began nervously, hands up defensively in front of him, "I know you care very much for Fai-san. It's just that the hospital will fall into debt without the support of the government and we simply cannot afford to contin—"

"You think I _care?_" Kurogane roared, "This guy paid for my arm._ I'm not going to let him die just like that!_"

Fai stiffened.

"Fai-san?" Syaoran made as if to support him from where the blonde was stranded at the table, legs trembling and fingers white against the tabletop he was leaning heavily on.

"Get out."

"W-what?"

"_Get out!"_

The doctor scrambled out, stuttering another apology as he did so.

"Oi, mage..." Kurogane began worriedly, reaching out to the blonde.

"I said," Fai turned, and his blue eyes were livid, "Get out! _Now!"_

Syaoran floundered back and forth for a moment, torn by indecision, then snatched Mokona from Kurogane and scurried out.

"Hey look, mage," the ninja soothed, laying a hand on a bony elbow, "It's not that bad, it'll be f—"

"Out! Out! _Out!" _Fai screamed, jerking his arm away.

He turned his face away.

"Just..." he whispered, "I just need a moment. Please, Kuro-sama?"

Kurogane hesitated, then brushed his fingertips gently over Fai's white knuckles.

"Okay."

He turned back one last time at the doorway, the words on the tip of his tongue.

He didn't say them.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Hehe, excuse me for my inability to keep on a regular updating schedule. I _promised _myself to update once a week, but now it's been almost two weeks! Well, almost. Anyway, I just thought I ought to tell you that when I write, I tend to publish only when I finish. However, normally I leave gaps in the story that I can't figure out/ have no inspiration to write, and just write the next section. For this particular one, it only had one long gap that was actually this chapter and the last. So... I have the rest written and only need to copy it into my computer (from my phone since I do my writing there) and edit it before posting. I will probably be able to keep on schedule now unless RL decides to be a real ass all of a sudden.**

_****Oh, a****nd erm... IMPORTANT NOTE HERE! I'm not sure if I might change the rating next chapter. Would you people prefer me to censor the mild sex and keep it at T? I'd really appreciate some feedback for this because I can't make up my mind whether to include it or not. That's pretty much the only thing that's holding me back from posting the next chapter out (besides having not copied nor edited it) up. I really value you people's opinions and all so please tell me of them!****_

**That aside, have you EVER held a baby bird in a loose fist? It's the scariest feeling on earth! You can feel its ribs expanding and pressing against your palm as it breathes, and its so tiny! Then I'll be so scared that my hand will accidentally spasm and crush it to death. It's so nerve-wrecking! Anyway, that's the sort of frailty that I was trying to convey up there. Because this fic _is _titled Frailty after all.**

**Btw, about this line: ****"I will never let you fall." ****I do not own Your Guardian Angel by Red Jumpsuit Apparatus.**

**Review please!**


	7. Of Falling, Flying, and the Truth

**Summary: The truth is out. All of it.**

**Warnings:** **Yaoi pairings. KUROFAI! Hospitals, a bit of humor and a bit of angst. Fai being Fai (and hiding things from everyone else). Kurogane being Kurogane (meaning that there will be swearing. Like duh.) Fluff interspersed. THIS IS NOT DEATH-FIC. FAI GETS BETTER. NON-GRAPHIC sex in this chapter.**

**A/N: This was in response to a prompt given to me by a friend, which is "Fai gets cancer. BUT DOESN'T DIE PLEASE!".**

* * *

><p>"I'm not gonna let you die."<p>

Fai didn't even turn towards him, only smiling sadly out of the large window by his bed.

"Of course not," he whispered.

And Kurogane really didn't know what to say to that.

Fai looked so frail at that moment, so small in the large tousled bed, the white sheets pulled up to his chest, veins showing blue and red through his sickly pale skin, translucent where it pulled tight over the bones of his sallow face and limbs, bags dark under his sunken eyes. His hair had never quite thinned, still as thick as ever. But in compromise, it didn't have that same golden luster it used to have, now hanging in brittle, lank tendrils. His wrists, crossed over the blankets on his lap, were down to just skin and bones. He was the image of the little boy Kurogane had seen in those shattered shards back in Celes, the little boy on his throne of corpses, bleeding his fingers dry on the unfeeling walls of that tower, the little boy with the aged eyes so hopeful before it had been crushed as his twin had fallen. He had never wanted to see Fai in that state again, like a corpse already dead.

But this time his eyes still shone bright, azure hue as deep and mesmerizing as they'd always been. The sunset cast a reddish glow over the ailing magician, shimmering in his far-away eyes like a spark of fire drowning in the endless sapphire of his pupils. As the sun dipped below the horizon, the red flames faded from the wizard's eyes, but even in the sudden absence of light, they still shimmered beautifully in the darkness of the room.

And despite the terrible state of the blonde's failing body, Kurogane thought he had never been more beautiful.

It was that glimmer that marked Fai as alive. As long as it was still present, Fai was still Fai, not someone else, not an empty shell that used to be called Fai, Yuui, mage, idiot. And as long as that glimmer remained, Fai would always be beautiful, just because it was Fai, because it was the man he loved.

Yes, the man he loved. He was in love with another man. He was in love with Fai. He loved Fai, loved him so much that he felt he might die from how much it hurt. He didn't know why he had been so afraid to admit it before. He'd thought himself fearless, but he wasn't. He had been so afraid to admit the truth. So afraid. But now, that fear had been reduced to nothing in the face of Fai's mortality. He'd always thought that Fai was invincible, always laughing and smiling and dodging and dancing away from harm. He'd never really believed that Fai could actually _die. _But seeing him like this now, wasting away in this accursed ward, death seemed to seep into the room through every crack. And he was so, so _scared _that his fear of loving Fai had disappeared next to that fear of death. He wanted to laugh until laughter meant nothing, he wanted to cry until he went blind, he wanted to embrace Fai and never let go, he wanted to shout _iloveyouiloveyouiloveyou _until he lost his voice, he wanted to _die._ Wanted to follow Fai into that dark unknown he seemed so ready to depart to.

But instead, he found himself just repeating himself. He didn't know what to do. Not anymore.

"I'm not going to let you die," and the ninja wondered how he could sound so restrained when he was as broken as he was at that moment, "I'm not going—I'll never... I will never let you fall."

Fai was silent for a long while, but when he next spoke it was barely a whisper.

"You don't need to feel like you need to put up with me just because I paid for your arm," he murmured, "What you've paid to save my life, it's... it's more than enough to cover that."

Shock prevented him from speaking for a moment, but when it wore off, fury boiled in his every nerve, flooding over the hurt.

"You think I don't want you to die just because of _that?" _he asked lowly, voice trembling with restrained fury, "Do you really _think _I'm that heartless? That I wouldn't mind you dead if not for the fact that I feel some _twisted sense of indebtedness towards you?" _

His voice had risen into a shout, echoing around the room. Yes. Better to feel anger than hurt, rage than grief. That he could cope with, but he didn't know how to... how to take away the pain. He hadn't felt anything like that in so long. He'd never let himself get attached, not since Suwa. Anger he could deal with, hurt not so much.

Fai snapped around to face him, and his sunken eyes flashed with anger. And hurt.

"What am I _supposed_ to think when you all but shouted it just now?"

He blinked. Then the conversation from before suddenly came back to him.

'_Now, Kurogane, I know you care very much for Fai. It's just with that the hospital will fall into debt without the support of the government and we simly cannot afford to contin-'_

'_You think I care? This guy paid for my arm. I'm not going to let him die just like that!'_

Kurogane suddenly felt the overwhelming urge to slam his forehead into the wall. Fai thought he'd been saying that he didn't care about _him? _He'd been saying that he didn't car about the doctor's _weak _excuses!

"You—" he spluttered incredulously, "Dont be stupid, I—"

"You don't need to try to make me feel better just because the doctor said I don't have long to live," Fai spat, "I don't _need _your pity."

"I'm not—Gods, you're stupid. I don't—"

"Don't try and lie to me," the wizard hissed, "I'd rather people not hide the 'ugly' truth from me just because I'm about to—"

"You're not going to—"

"Like you care about that," he cried, "Like you care about me! You hate me people like me, _remember?_"

"I do care, it's not—"

Fai threw a pillow at him; it fell miserably short. He doubled over, panting and coughing, blue eyes glaring resentfully at him.

"I don't want to hear it!" he shouted, or rather, attempted to shout; his voice was too breathless to give it volume, "Shut up. Shut _up! _You—"

"I _love _you," Kurogane whispered.

Fai faltered.

"W-what?"

"I fucking love you, you _bloody idiot!"_

The answering silence was so deafening that Kurogane felt like jumping out of the window. How could he have just blurted it out like that? Nothing would ever be the same again. Why had be been so damned stu—

The look on Fai's face threw him right off.

His eyes were wide with shock, but they were so helpless, so _hopeful. _He had thought that Fai had looked vulnerable before. But now that he could see that _vulnerability _on his face... this was true vulnerability. What was the helplessness of baby bird in his hand, compared to the frailty of a raw heart in his fist, unprotected by skin, muscle, ribs. He could crush it, he realized vaguely, so very easily. What was physical frailty, when Fai had been so strong inside? He had expected withdrawal maybe, pity, or perhaps even disgust. But this hopeless abandon, he didn't know what to say to that.

"You—" Fai managed to choke out, voice raw, "You love me?"

Kurogane didn't answer. Couldn't answer. Not with the way Fai was looking at him. Not like this. He felt like his _soul_ was singing from within his chest, a strange sort of sensation in his heart like a bird taking flight for the first time. And _gods, _it was amazing.

But after a moment, Fai's expression closed off sharply, and his pale face contorted into a twisted grimace of hurt, then fury. Was Fai like him? Better fury than hurt. And perhaps he had never really understood what Fai was thinking on the inside. And perhaps they had always been dancing around one another, too scared to admit the truth, too scared to speak out.

"Don't play with my feelings, Kurogane," Fai spat venomously, voice shaking, "Don't you ever _dare—" _his voice broke, but he continued on anyway, "_—think _you can _humiliate _me just because you know I'm in love with you. Don't you ever _dare_ tell me that you love me, then laugh at me and say it was a joke. Don't you ever, _ever—"_

And perhaps they just needed to voice what they'd always been so scared to say. Because they couldn't go on like this, never saying what was inside, and always misunderstanding because... because... how _could _they know? Perhaps one day they'd know each other so well that words weren't needed, but right now...

Kurogane fisted his hand in the hairs at the nape of Fai's neck, jerking the smaller man forward into a forceful kiss.

...Maybe all they needed was to open up, fully. And he was scared. Because opening up was like putting his heart in Fai's palm, raw and unprotected. It was like leaping off a tall, tall tree, wondering if the wind would catch him, and bring him soaring up into the sky, or if he'd plummet down to the ground and die broken in the grass. It was... it was like a bird taking flight for the first time, facing its own frailty, and its own mortality, but leaping anyway because it had faith, and it trusted the wind not to let it fall.

Fai moaned, a sound so honest it made shivers run down his spine, and all but melted into him, tangling his bony fingers into short black hair. When they finally parted for air, flushed and panting, Fai's eyes were glazed over.

"You," Kurogane gasped, a wicked grin splitting across his face, "are _such _an idiot."

And when he pushed into Fai's body for the first time, he was careful, rolling over so that the blonde was sprawled over his chest with his pale thighs spread to either side of his waist. He wanted to do this, and Fai was eager, but he didn't look like he could take the weight of another. It was like falling, uncontrollably. But he surrendered and at one point, he fell so far that he was flying.

The angle was bad, yes. But it seemed to hit the right spot nevertheless, judging by the breathy moans against his neck with every gentle rock of his hips up into Fai's body, and the desperate keening as a wet warmth spilled over their stomaches. As the wizard's body began to flutter around him, Kurogane quickly removed his hands from where they rested on the man's body—one cupping his ass and the other placed lightly at the small of his back—and fisted them into the sheets, afraid that he might shatter Fai's hipbones with his bare hands. It was like riding a crest, falling over the edge of a wave so vast that it was terrifying. It was like falling, together, falling so far that at one point, they began to soar. And it was... it was exhilarating.

_i will never let you fall._

* * *

><p>"Oi," Kurogane later called softly, tenderly, threading his fingers through the dry, wheat locks splaying over his collarbones like a fan.<p>

Fai emitted a soft, lazily satisfied hum of enquiry against his chest.

"Mmmm?"

"I'll find you again if I have to," the ninja whispered, feeling a little out of character, but the strange bliss making him strangely honest, "I won't have anyone else."

But honesty was good.

Fai stiffened on top of him, then pushed himself up onto his elbows to look him in the eye. He looked faintly guilty.

"I already told you that I'm not going to die."

"Fai," Kurogane sighed, "The doctor already said—"

"_Kurogane_," Fai said, seriously, firmly, "Listen to me."

Kurogane fell silent.

Fai took a deep breath.

"I...don't know if you remember," he began softly, "The last world, we were in a mining village, in the mountains. It was snowing there."

_a world of icy mountains and scattered villages in the snow, laughing faces of villagers_

Kurogane felt a chill run down his spine.

"We were in the mines," Fai continued in barely a whisper, "There was a cave-in."

The blonde stopped, biting his lip.

"I'd thought it was just a nightmare," Kurogane rasped.

"You got me out," Fai said, "But you... you didn't make it."

Kurogane caressed his fingertips over the small of Fai's back in comfort.

"We dug you out," Fai gasped, "But...But you—there was _so much blood. _Mangled. Thought you were—"

He choked on a dry sob.

"Tried to save you. A broken plank of wood from the ceiling stabbed you right through the kidney..."

Kurogane was suddenly stuck with a chilling realization.

"You paid your kidney."

Fai nodded.

"You heart stopped," he continued in a whisper, "And so I made my wish before you could fully—"

Fai stopped abruptly and took a deep shuddering breath, closing his eyes.

"My payment was that. My heart and kidney, and to take any other injuries you had."

Kurogane remembered his so-called _nightmare _with a shudder. The blood. There had been _so much. _The broken limbs. The gasping for air. The lack of heartbeat. That terrible, _terrible _gaping hole clawed into his chest. Kurogane suddenly found himself very horrified.

"Oh gods," he whispered, paling, "He... he tore it out. He tore it right out."

"Kuro—"

He'd _never _thought the shopkeeper of such violence, all pale skin, wide eyes and thin limbs.

"I'll kill him," he snarled, "I swear I'll kill him for touching you."

"No!" Fai cried, "I did it myself, I—"

He paused, laying his head back down with a strange smile on his face.

"I tore it out with my claws," he murmured, "Maybe you might think me twisted, but it was... a strange sort of romantic."

He giggled, and Kurogane waited for him to continue.

"I wanted to give it to you. _For_ you," he whispered, "I didn't want to let him _take_ it. It was for _you_. I _gave_ it to you with my own bare hands."

"You're really sick, you know," Fai stiffened, and Kurogane slid his fingers into his blonde hair, "But I guess I'm pretty sick too, for finding that a... 'strange sort of romantic'."

Fai chuckled, reaching out to twine their fingers together against the white sheets tangling around them both.

"This is turning into a pretty disturbing conversation."

There was a smile tugging at his lips. But he sobered as he remembered what they had been talking about before.

"So this 'cancer' thing is a side effect?"

He couldn't see anything of Fai's face from where it was tucked under his chin, but he could feel the blonde's wry smile against his bare skin.

"It's not cancer and I'm most definitely not about to die from such a thing when I survived tearing out my own heart with my bare hands," Fai said dryly, "But yes, I suppose you could say it's a 'side effect', a harmless one at that."

Kurogane was skeptical.

"If it's harmless, why do you look so..."

He trailed off.

Fai snorted.

"It's the chemotherapy drugs," he explained, "Remember? They work by killing off cells in your body, even those not cancerous."

"Then why did you agree to do it if you knew you didn't cancer?" Kurogane demanded incredulously.

Fai's smirk rivaled the cheshire cat.

"We were broke, and they waltzed in offering to be scammed," he said brightly, "I just _couldn't _refuse."

Needless to say, Kurogane was not very pleased.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Sorry people, no smut. Only non-graphic sex, and OOC Fai. I don't know if the writing style has made a tremendous jump from usual to 'corny attempt at prettifying Kuro's introspection'. If it has, it's probably because I was listening to Kesha before in an effort to keep things considerably less heavy, and then for this chapter I jumped to Your Guardian Angel (Red Jumpsuit Apparatus) and the Godfather theme (on piano). Yes. My writing style changes with the music I listen to. And I don't know if its obvious how exactly cancer is related to having a heart torn out, but if it isn't you'll find out why its relevant in the next chapter. The next chapter will be the last one! And since the chemo is stopping, Fai will be back to his usual sparkly, _dazzling _self!**

**...**

**Oh gosh. I made him sound like Edward Cullen. NOOOOOOO! Not like Edward Cullen sparkly dazzly! Its a _Fai _sparkly dazzly! And not literal sparkly dazzly. Vampires that _smolder _like Fai does do _NOT _sparkle! Not in a literal sense! Fai is sexy. I would want him for myself, but I'm too much of a voyeur to keep him with me. I'd rather have two smexy guys for the price of one. Ohoho. Kuro is sexy too. But Fai is way sexier. It's not that Kuro isn't sexy, it's just my obsession for blonde hair, blue eyes, guys with ponytails, vampirism, and angst... which was a Fai-induced obsession in the first place.**

**I'm hopeless. Anyway I just ate a tonne of chocolate, and I am off my rocker. I shall end this nonsensical babbling on the sexiness of fictional characters and post this up. Again, see typo? Tell me. Feedback of any sort is appreciated!**

**Review!**


	8. Of Healing and Moving On

**Summary: Fai moves into the hospice, where he begins to recover.**

**Warnings:** **Yaoi pairings. KUROFAI! Hospitals, a bit of humor and a bit of angst. Fai being Fai (and hiding things from everyone else). Kurogane being Kurogane (meaning that there will be swearing. Like duh.) Fluff interspersed. THIS IS NOT DEATH-FIC. FAI GETS BETTER.**

**A/N: This was in response to a prompt given to me by a friend, which is "Fai gets cancer. BUT DOESN'T DIE PLEASE!".**

* * *

><p>And so Fai was moved into the hospice with minimal difficulties.<p>

It was a nice place; the nurses were friendly, and the doctors were kind. Also, it appeared that the government was not _completely _heartless. The doctor had written to them, and they had agreed to sponsor Fai's stay in the hospice, no doubt thinking he wouldn't last that long judging by his previous rate of deterioration. But without the dosages of what Fai referred to as "liquid murder" hindering his regenerative abilities, he began to regain his former health at an alarming pace. The nurses and patients double-took when they saw him every morning, but if they thought it strange (which they likely did), they said nothing.

It had been at least two months since they had landed in this world, but Mokona's earring had yet to start glowing. In earlier worlds, they had always had to do something in order to move on to the next world. Sometimes it was a discovery, sometimes it was an internal realization, spurred by the events of that world, sometimes it was something that seemed like _nothing, _but apparently would affect the people in that world, whether individually or on a world-wide scale. But that _something, _was a highly mysterious _something. _Even Mokona didn't know what it was that they needed to do in order to move on to the next world.

Kurogane had always been worried that their intrusion into worlds they would otherwise not have existed in would result in some strange damage to the universal, cosmic, dimensional whatnot that the witch was always talking about. But it appeared that the witch had created Mokona to prevent their presence from doing harm. The concept that they were _supposed _to be there, that they were _supposed_ play a part in the destiny of that world, it was hard to wrap his head around. He supposed that was why Mokona cost them all so much. The witch was a powerful figure (no matter how he hated her) and to create something that could determine when their role was finished was probably no easy task. He only wished that _something, _could have been a bracelet, or a token of some kind, _not _an irritating, noisy, intolerable _manjuu bun!_

After that night when he and Fai had come out to each other about their feelings, Kurogane had half-expected the manjuu bun to come leering, bouncing into the room as he and Fai had been laying together in a tangle of limbs and white sheets, spouting off inappropriate comments. Or for Syaoran to burst in to tell them it was time to go. However, it seemed that the advancement of their relationship and the realization that feeling long kept secret we, in fact, reciprocated was not the kick needed to get them to the next world.

When the earring did glow, they had been stumped as to what they had done to prompt it.

* * *

><p>"<em>Waiii~! <em>Kuro-chama is angry!"

Kurogane spat the rest of the contents of his mouth out onto a napkin.

"Of course I'm fucking angry!" he yelled. "You put sugar into my porridge!"

"Kuro-tan," Fai whined, "Why am I always the first person you point fingers at?"

"You're the _only _person who'd do this sort of thing!"

Fai pouted.

"But I _really _didn't do anything to your food this time!"

"Then why is my porridge _sweet?"_

The blonde offered him an angelic smile.

"Perhaps the cook mixed up the salt and sugar?" he suggested sweetly.

Kurogane felt his fingers twitch, itching to close around a certain scrawny neck and wring it. His murderous intentions must have shown on his face, because Fai was tossing aside the covers and dashing out the door as the ninja rose slowly from his seat on the sofa furthest from the door.

"Get back here, idiot mage!" he shouted as he gave chase, no longer under any pretense of calm, "I'm going to wring your scrawny neck!"

Fai laugh as he darted nimbly down the corridor, much to the amusement of the nurses, staff, and patients, most of whom had gotten used to his ridiculous antics.

"You need to work on your persuasive skills, Kuro-rin," he laughed, "Is this how you should be treating a _dying man?"_

_"You'll be dying when I'm through with you!"_

Fai only laughed some more, unfazed by the blatant death threat.

"Well, you'll have to catch me first Kuro—_oof!"_

Whatever ancestor-dishonoring nickname that Fai had been about to lavish on his person was cut off as the man in question went skidding over the wet floor, belly-down. Kurogane ignored the yellow 'Cleaning-in-Progress' sign in favor of picking the magician up by the scruff of his shirt. He managed to stifle his childishly wide grin and maniacal cackling into a wicked smirk.

"Finally got you."

He couldn't quite keep the gleeful victory from his voice, but he supposed it was excusable given the occasion. He didn't think he had _ever _caught Fai in any of their cat-and-dog chases. And thus, it was obvious that he was _quite _put off when he would-be kitty was snatched right out of his paws by a flock of raucous nurses. He had just been beginning to plan what he would do to the elusive wizard that had always evaded his claws.

"Oh god! Are you alright? Are you hurt?"

"Someone check for broken bones!"

"Fai-san, can you hear me, Fai-san?"

"How many fingers am I holding up?"

Fai blinked, cross-eyed, at the two fingers being shoved in his face.

"Huh?"

"Concussion," a nurse diagnosed, and Fai began to protest, "Someone get a stretcher!"

"No, wait!" Fai protested as he was strapped down to a gurney, struggling uselessly, "Two! Two! There were two!"

The nurses began to haul the stretcher away, giving Fai pitying looks at his desperate cries of _"two!"_

"Delirious," they said, shaking their heads sadly, "probably doesn't know what's going on anymore."

They ignored Kurogane's incredulous shouts of, "he meant there were two _fingers, _you idiots!"

* * *

><p>Fai flinched away from the light being shone into his eyes, blinking rapidly.<p>

"Really!" he protested, "I don't have a concussion!"

Doctor Hideki sighed and lowered his torch, smiling kindly but exasperatedly over it at his patient.

"Of course I know that, but the nurses happen to think so, and it's protocol, so just humor me. Alright?"

The doctor raised the torch again, and Fai grudgingly turned towards him. He shone the torch into the wizard's mouth, ("checking your teeth", he explained) and then accepted a tiny hammer from that little blonde nurse who Kurogane sworn had been a feather in a previous world. The one that seemed a little slow in the head. Hideki tapped the hammer lightly against Fai's knee, and his leg shot up. Fai burst into delighted laughter, childishly amused at the action.

"Okay, everything seems fine," Hideki said, passing the hammer back to the nurse, "We just need several x-rays to confirm that there aren't any broken bones or fractures. Also protocol of course."

"Don't you think he'd be able to _feel _it if it were fractured?"

"Fai-san has been prescribed with an alarming amount of pain medication—yes, I am well aware that he does not take a drop of it," he added at seeing the look on Kurogane's face, "And thus may not be able to feel the pain of a hairline fracture."

The ninja looked incredulous, and Hideki shrugged helplessly.

"It's protocol," he repeated, and Fai flapped his hand in careless acceptance, interrupting Kurogane before he could say anything.

"Let him," he drawled lazily, "S'not like we're paying for any of this anyway."

Later—after the x-rays, the being wheeled about the radiology department, and the traveling back to the doctor's office—they found themselves back in front of Doctor Hideki as he examined the x-ray, clicking his mouse to zoom in on the relevant areas.

"Well, everything appears to be where it's supposed to be," he told them, "Seems to be a perfectly healthy body. You might even get to leave the hospice intact."

His tone of voice made it clear that he thought 'will' was a more appropriate word to be used in place of 'might'. He tapped at a few keys, further reviewing the x-ray that the radiology department had keyed into the hospice's database.

The door opened, and Syaoran poked his head in, Mokona sitting conspicuously in his raised palms. The brunette gave them a meaningful look.

"Kurogane-san, Fai-san," he called politely, "I need to speak with you in private for a moment please."

Mokona's earring was glowing.

The two men looked to Doctor Hideki, who waved them away with a shooing motion.

"Go on ahead," he told them distractedly, still tapping away at his laptop, "I just need to have Chii send your report over to the hospital—they asked for updates, you see—and you don't really have to be here for that."

Fai rose in a single fluid motion, stretching languidly in a manner almost feline as he followed his lover out of the door.

A mere twenty minutes later, an email from the hospital would spark a frantic manhunt for the mysterious blonde patient with neither ID nor birth-certificate; one who didn't match a single citizen on the government database. It would seem like the patient had simply _vanished, _right off the face of the earth, much to the exasperation and desperation of the doctors and government researchers. The mass-media would rave about it for nearly a month, the case going down in medical history: the missing patient who had, in the span of barely a week, mysteriously regrown a kidney.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Eh. Done! It's not cancer people! It is the rapid growth of Fai's missing kidney! (Because it is regenerating.) Considering that his cells are probably different due to the fact that he's not really human (ahem, vampire), and the whole rapid growth thing, I think in a world like ours, they'd consider some mutation of cancer. Or something of that sort. Because I don't particularly think Fai could get cancer anyway, as a magician and a vampire and all. And yay! I'm done. Done. Done! DONE! Sigh. I don't really know what else to say. Hmm. Hahh. Well. Bye I guess. Please review! Even if its just a typo, just tell me about it! (Getting repetitive here.) Thanks for reading.**

**PLEASE REVIEW!**

**Update 04/04/12: Sorry guys, but there is Something Very Wrong with FF. net right now. I've tried deleting and reposting a few time, but it just won't appear on the archive, and when it finally did, it wasn't visible. Sorry!**


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